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Fighting-Machine
The fighting-machine, also referred to as a tripod and at times a Thing, is the main war machine employed by the Martians in their attempt to conquer Earth. Design and function As said in the Martian Technology Report: "And this Thing I saw! How can I describe it? A monstrous tripod, higher than many houses, striding over the young pine trees, and smashing them aside in its career; a walking engine of glittering metal, striding now across the heather; articulate ropes of steel dangling from it, and the clattering tumult of its passage mingling with the riot of the thunder. A flash, and it came out vividly, heeling over one way with two feet in the air, to vanish and reappear almost instantly as it seemed, with the next flash, a hundred yards nearer. Can you imagine a milking stool tilted and bowled violently along the ground? That was the impression those instant flashes gave. But instead of a milking stool imagine it a great body of machinery on a tripod stand... Seen nearer, the Thing was incredibly strange, for it was no mere insensate machine driving on its way. Machine it was, with a ringing metallic pace, and long, flexible, glittering tentacles (one of which gripped a young pine tree) swinging and rattling about its strange body. It picked its road as it went striding along, and the brazen hood that surmounted it moved to and fro with the inevitable suggestion of a head looking about. Behind the main body was a huge mass of white metal like a gigantic fisherman's basket, and puffs of green smoke squirted out from the joints of the limbs as the monster swept by me.'' '' The terrible Fighting Machines are perhaps the most vivid impression that survivors have of the Invasion, the hundred-foot tall Titans striding across the landscape with their strange loping gait, laying waste left and right with their devastating Heat-Rays. These constructions are in themselves a masterpiece of engineering, each part precisely machined and interlocked with its fellows. The Fighting Machines were constructed almost exclusively from an advanced alloy of aluminium (which is incidentally much stronger than aluminium alone), which was left unpainted and glittering in the sunlight. The main body of the fighting machine, holding the Heavy Element Engine, the Heat-Ray and the cowl in which the Martian operator sat, was supported by three spindly, jointed legs, controlled using the pseudo-muscular system described previously. The Fighting-Machines were equipped with a number of devices fitting for their terrible purpose: a Heat-Ray generator mounted on an articulated arm; a wire-mesh basket behind the hood of the machine, in which captured humans were deposited; a steam-hose, used to lay the clouds of Black Smoke once they had served their purpose. Beneath the main body of machinery dangled six glittering tentacles, operated on the same principle as the pseudo-muscular system described above. The discs were covered by an armoured sheath of interlocking rings of aluminium, protecting the pseudo-muscles from damage. The tentacles could be used to administer an electric shock to the Martians' victims, subduing struggling humans before they were placed in the metal basket. The fighting-machines are assembled in the Martian pits by handling-machines before activation'' and'' each tripod possesses an unspecified number of tentacles, one of which can retract into the tripod when its primary weapon, the Heat-Ray, is not in use. The tentacles are also able to hold a Magnetic Acceleration Cannon. Tentacles were also used in the novel to pick up people, throw them at objects, and even rip up small trees, indicating a high degree of strength and precision. The head is described as a "brazen" hood that holds the Martian pilot. Whether "brazen" here refers to the hood being made of a brass like substance, or it's attitude is uncertain. The head can turn in any direction. The tripod as a whole appears as if it is made from a substance similar to aluminum. The martian tripod also is composed of a segment known as the "body," for which there are few details. The body apparently contains a jet, which can fire pressurized steam in order to dissipate black smoke. This steam is capable of breaking glass, and would surely cause a nasty burn, but is not shown in use as a weapon. There are also three legs. The novel never shows tripod legs being used to injure anyone directly, although this is a common occurence in later works. On the back of each tripod is what looks like a metal fishing basket, which they use to hold humans that they capture with their tentacles. The tripods in the original book could be destroyed by human weapons, usually artillery, although loses were usually heavier for the humans than the Martians. A number of later works assert that this is imposible. According to one instance in the book, the machine gives off a howl that is given as "Aloo!" However, this should not be confused with "Ulla", a sound given off by the Martians themselves. An earlier work by H.G. Wells, a short story known as The Crystal Egg, is set on Mars, and may actually refer to a fighting machine, or similar device in use on that planet. The assembly process of the fighting machines is somewhat uncertain. When the Martians first arrive at earth, they erect a device which functions like a heat ray to defend themselves. Later on, they are said to have moved in something like a large covered dish, which is probably the hood of a fighting machine, and some components of the vehicle itself not yet set up in a fully erect form. The Narrator discusses the fighting machines emitting a luminous green smoke from joints. A mechanical system which mimics the motions of muscles, and a number of sliding bearings are also mentioned as being integral to fighting machine technology. The devices also apparently contain large quantities of some brown fluid, which is seen to leak out when one was destroyed at weybridge. This brown substance may turn a more reddish color, and clump up while in water, but this is uncertain, as so many details in the novel are left slightly ambiguous. Tripods in other media In the movies, the tripods have seen many designs. George Pal's The War of the Worlds In the 1953 adaptation of The War of the Worlds by renown sci-fi producer George Pal, models resembling Manta Rays with a Heat-Ray "Swan-Neck" were used to portray the fighting-machine. These machines hovered in the air like a spaceship. There were originally three electromagnetic legs, which can be seen early in the film and in the climax, but were discontinued during production, most likely because the producers deemed the one million volts needed to create the effect was too dangerous. George Pal's machine boasted two different weapons, including two wingtip mounted "skeleton beams" and a Swan neck Heat-Ray. It also has a magnetic energy shield to protect the machine from enemy fire. This shield was powerful enough to withstand the effect of the atomic bomb. Like Steven Spielberg's tripod design, George Pal's so called Manta-Machine had a sort of "Electronic Eye", used to scout inside derelict buildings. TV series The sequel to the 1953 film rarely uses war machines, but in respect to continuity, those seen are based on Albert Nozaki's design. Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds The most recent film adaptation of War of the Worlds features an amazing tripod design. It is shaped like a cuttlefish, with two windshields, 18 tentacles, two "heat rays" that disintegrate humans and destroy or burn everything else they touch, headlights including one very large headlight, rubbery/tentacle legs, and two External detachable cages for storing humans. It is evidently taller than any other adaptation (150 feet tall to be exact). In this adaptation, the tripods have been waiting beneath under the ground for countless years to be activated by the returning aliens. It has a camera-like probe for at least one tentacle. It's feet have three long "toes" extending from the "ankles". The sound it emits is very similar to the "aloo!" of the book. The Steven Spielberg tripods also have a form of energy shield like George Pal's 1953 Martian warship. They also had sprayers on their sides used to fertilize the red weed using human blood. Their movements are inspired by the red eyed tree frog. Some say the tripods bear a resemblance to cuttlefish. Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds Perhaps the most iconic version of the fighting-machine is the Jeff Wayne's Musical version of The War of the Worlds. This is the first tripod design not to include a storage basket (which was placed instead on the handling-machine). It also does not appear to have tentacles(though in the animation for the live tour of The War of the Worlds The New Generation shows them using tentacles in two scenes, one where it picks up a soldier with one and another where it carries the debries of a destroyed fighting machine.) Its weapons include two black smoke launchers and one socket joined Heat-Ray in the cupola of the hood. It is also the most chunky and heavily armoured design although because the cockpit is immobile, one would believe it to be it is less maneuverable. After the death of the Martians; a red synthetic is pulled out of the open hood by crows. Pendragon Pictures' H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds Pendragon's fighting-machines are silver, with a cockpit and a retractile Heat-Ray. It has four chain-link tentacles, 3 articulate legs and a basket for storing humans. Instead of emitting the famous "Ulla" cry, it screeches a high-pitched howl. The Asylum productions War of the Worlds In H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds, a film adaptation from The Asylum productions, the fighting-machine is a walker, but not a tripod, either. Instead it has six legs, resembling a crab. The Heat-Ray is built into the body of the machine, shooting through a slot on its "head," which can turn around on the bottom part that houses the legs. This machine can also eject an object that emits a green gas (a substance similar to the black smoke) through the same slot. It also has an opening atop the head through which Martians can leave the machine, as well at least one appendage that is depicted as grabbing fleeing humans. In the Asylum's sequel War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave the new walkers are tripods. Unlike the first film the Martians do not control the tripods from the inside but instead the tripods are living cyborg organisms controlled by a signal from a mothership. They also have the ability to disapeare. Manga Gothic Media's "The War" The Fighting Machine in the upcoming Open Movie "The War" is depicted as a predatorial like arachnid. It is delibertly designed so as not incorparate the wheel (as the Martians showed no evidence as to utilizing it in their technology). It is made of an unknown metal and motivatied by a mettalic muscle and bone structure. They are in effect an extension of the Martian's will, highly flexible and agile. They are capable of great speed and large slow strides. Their joints also emit a greenish smoke (as depiced in the book) and they emit the sound "alloo" and "Ullah. They come with at least six tentacles of an unkown flexable metalic like material and the carry their heat-ray's on a flexible attenena. The cage which house captured creatures is located on their underbelly. They also come in several classifications. In the two films "The Harvest" and the "Crystal Egg" a pre war type, refered to as the scout or the hunter, is seen hunting down and harvesting the few suriving humaniod population on the planet Mars. See also *Heat-Ray *Black Smoke External links *Wikipedia:Tripod *http://drzeus.best.vwh.net/wotw/other/gait/ Category:Martian Machines